Electrically operated valve for organ pipes



July 4, 1933. B. G. AUSTIN ELECTRICALLY OPERATED VALVE FOR ORGAN PIPES Filed Aug. 10, 1932 m 4 Wm mJ 3A F a U S m w mcwwwww W 1. W q aim Patented July 4, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- BASIL G. AUSTIN, Olm HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO THE AUSTIN ORGAN COIPANY, OI HARTFORD, CONNBCTICU '1, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT EICTBICALLY OPERATED VALVE FOB. ORGAN PIPES Application filed Augunt 10, 1932. Serial No. 828,218.

The present invention relates to musical instruments having a pressure box, pipes adapted to have communication therew th, and valves adapted to control communlcation between the pressure box and the pipes.

Heretofore, it has been the usual practice to operate valves for organ pipes by means of an electropneumatic action, there usually being a small electric magnet for operating an armature valve which controls a pneumatic of suflicient size to open the valve supplying wind to the pipe. alves of this kind are more or less cumbersome and bulky and they are likely to get out of order. It has been proposed to operate the usual valves supplying wind to the pipe directly from a magnet. These proposed arrangements required large magnets using a relatively large amount of current, features which are ob ectionable when it is taken into consideration that a large number of valves are used in closely ad acent positions.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved construction in which the valve controlling communication between the presure box and pipes is directly operated without the aid of a pneumatic or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a very small and compact device of this character which employs a relatively small ma net and requires a relatively small amount 0% current. This is a desirable object since, in an organ, we have a large number of pipes and valves and, if it were necessary to use a large magnet requiring a large amount of electricity, there would be danger of sparking in the contacts and too large a volume of electricity would be required.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved device of this kind having a sealing member and a member associated therewith and adapted to rock so that, when operated, the sealing member will be rolled onto and oif of the valve seat about the valve opening or port, thereby requiring less energy to operate the valve than would be the case where the valve is bodily moved from its seat.

A further aim of the present invention is b d to provide an improved device of this kind which comprises few parts, which is simple in construction, which is cheap to manufacture, which will not easily get out of order, and which is noiseless in operation. Other objects will be in part obvious and in art pointed out more in detail hereinafter. he invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the applicat1on of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown, for illustrative purposes, one of the embodiments which the present invention may take Figure is a section on line 11 of Fig. 3 and showing my improved valve in closed pos1t1on; I

Fig. 2 1s a view similar to Fig. 1 with the pressure box and pipe omitted and showing the valve in open position;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the valve body, the rocking member and sealing member being shown by broken lines; and

Fig. 4 is a detail View of the valve port.

Referring more particularly to the figures, A represents generally a pressure box or wind chest, the same being more or less diagrammatically illustrated. B is a pipe of an orgen, and C my improved valve which controls communication between the box A and the pipe B. The pressure box A may be of the usual construction and is provided with an openlng 10 in the top portion thereof, the upper portion of which receives the boot ll of the pipe B.

While only one opening 10 and only one pipe B are illustrated, it is to be understood that a large number of closely adjacent openlugs 10 and pipes B are employed and a valve C is associated with each pipe B. The valve C has a valve body 12 formed of wood or the like and having at its upper end a reduced neck 13 which is received by the lower portion of the opening 10 in the pressure box A. The provision of this neck 13 on the valve 0 y provides a shoulder 14.- Which snugly engages the inner wall of the to of the box A and the neck 13 is surrounde' b a packing 15 of leather or some other suita 1e material which revents the leaka e of air around the neck of the valve bodyt rough the opening 10 in the pressure box. The valve body is also provided with a longitudinally extending passageway 16, the upper end of which communicates with the interior of the pipe B and the lower end of which extends downwardand forwardly to terminate in the vertical 1 fiont face 17 of the valve body and communicate with the interior of the pressure box A. The port 16' in the front face or valve seat 17 may be of grid-like construction, as shown in Fig. 4, so as to prevent the leather strip from bagging-or sagging into the port.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide a flexible sealing member for clos ing the valve port and a rocking member so associated with the sealing member that, when the rocking member is rocked in one direction, the sealing member is rolled or curled, so to speak, off of the valve seat, and when the rocking member rocks in the opposite direction, the sealing member is rolled back onto the valve seat. In the present instance, the sealing member is shown as being in the form of a strip of leather 18, or the like, having its upper portion 18a secured, as by gluing, to the front face of the valve body. This strip of leather 18 extends downwardly across the lower opening or valve port of the passageway 16 and has its lower free end folded over, as at 186, and secured, as by gluing, to the lower end of the outer face of the rocking member 19. This rocking member 19 may be made from a strip of iron or other magnetically effective metal and is substantially arcuate in the direction of its length. It has its convex face engaging the outer side of the leather strip 18. In order to limit the outward and downward movement of the upper portion of the rocking member 19 in assuming its closed position, a staple 20 is driven into the front face 17 of the valve body. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the upper portion of the member 19, when in closed position, will engage the closed end of the staple. A buffer 21 made of leather, or the like, may be secured to the upper portion of the front face of the member 19 so as to engage the staple to absorb the shocks and to prevent any noise when the valve closes.

The lower end of the valve body may be bevelled, as at 22, and the valve body is provided with a pair of through bores 23 which terminate in the lower end 22 and the front face 17 of the valve body. It will be noted that one of these bores is disposed on each side of the passageway 16 of the valve body and that these bores are disposed at an angle to the front face of the valve body and at an angle to the member 19. A magnet has its free end portions received respectively by open the valve.

aeraaao the bores 23 and it will be noted that the free ends of the magnet are bevelled, as at 25.

whereby an enlarged area will be providedhead with the front face 17 of the valve body 4 when themember 19 is in closed position.

The magnet 24 may be connected up with a suitable source of electrical energy, not shown, by the wires 26.

In the use of the device, when it is desired to establish communication between the pipe B and pressure box A, the magnet associated with the valve is energized, whereupon the rocking member 19 is rolled from the po sition shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fi 2. When the rocking member is thus rolle it curls or peels the flexible sealing member 18 from the face 17 which constitutes the valve seat, so to speak. It will be observed that the sealing member is progressively withdrawn from the valve seat so that but a very small amount of energy is necessary to 'When it is desired to close the valve, the magnet is de-energized, whereupon, due to gravity, the valve head and the lower end of the flexible member will fall to the positions shown in Fig. 1. When the valve is in closed position, the pressure within the pressure box will hold the flexible member against the valve seat about the valve port so that leakage from the pressure chamber into the pipe is prevented. My improved construction is of particular advantage in that it is practically noiseless in operation, it being observed that the valve does not shut squarely on its seat.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. A valve comprising a valve body having a valve seating surface provided with a port afrocking member having a surface opposed to said seating surface, a sealing strip disposed between said surfaces and having one end connected to said rocking member, and means for rocking said rocking member, one

of said surfaces bein curved in the direction of movement of sai rocking member.

2. A valve com rising a valve bod having a surface provided with a port, a exible sealing member adapted to engage said surface and close said port, a rocking member having a convex surface between which and said valve body said sealing member is inv terposed, said sealing member being connected to said rocking member, and means for rocking said rockin member. y

3. A valve comprising a valve body having a surface provided with a port, a flexible sealing member secured at one end and adapted to lie against said surface and close said port, a rocking member having a convex surface between which and said valve body said sealing member is interposed, the opposite end of said sealing member being connected to said rockin" member, and a magnet for rocking said IOliillg member.

4. A valve comprising a valve body having a surface provided with a port, a sealing member secured above said port and havmg its lower end portion adapted to close said port, a rocking member having a convex surface engafing the outer face 0 said sealing member, t e ower end of said sealing member being connected to said rockin member, and a magnet cooperating with said rocking member abovesaid ort.

5. A valve aving a valve body provided with a vertical surface having a port, a flexible strip secured at its upper end to said surface and having its lower end portion adapted to close said port, a metal rocking member having a convex surface engaging the outer face of said stri the lower end of said strip being connected to the lower end of said rocking member, means for limitin the downwardly rocking movement of sai rocking member, and a. magnet having its poles arranged when energized to draw the upper end of said rocking member towards said valve surface whereby to roll said flexible strip from said port.

6. A valve having a valve' body provided with a vertical surface having a ort, a flexible strip secured at one 'end an having its other end portion free so as to be moved into covering relation with respect to said port, a rocking member having a concave face adapted to rock on the outer face of said flexible strip, the free end of said strip being secured to said rocking member at a point below said port when the valve is closed, and the upper end of said rockingmember being free of said strip, a U-shaped magnet carried by said valve body and disposed at an angle to said surface, the ends of said legs being bevelled and being disposed in the plane of said surface and opposite the upper end of said rocking member.

BASIL G. AUSTIN. 

